Textile machinery surfaces



A. E.- STEIN 3,097,561

METHOD OF LUBRICATING THREAD AND TEXTILE MACHINERY SURFACES July 16, 1963 Filed Aug. 30, 1960 Alfred Ernst Stein INVENTOR.

AGENT- United States Patent 3,097,561 METHOD OF LUBRICATING THREAD AND TEXTILE MACHINERY SURFACES Alfred Ernst Stein, Annastr. 63, Rheinberg, Rhineland, Germany Filed Aug. 30, 1960, Ser. No. 52,998 Claims priority, application Germany Sept. 4, 1959 2 Claims. (Cl. 874) My present invention relates to the manufacture of fabrics and, more particularly, to the machine production of retieulate materials such as curtain fabrics, bobbinet, pillow lace and the like.

Machine production of fabrics comprises the interlacing of a plurality of threads by mechanically actuated moving members. The weaving of textiles utilizes shuttles or the like, adapted to carry the weft thread over and under the warp threads, while the moving members for the production of reticulate and similar open fabrics comprise needle pairs arranged across the breadth of the machine. For the most part, the threads include a Warp thread derived from the warp beam, at least one but preferably two weft threads unreeled from bobbins and, when desirable, threads adapted to produce a pattern and originating at ordinary spools. In lace machines, the bobbins are usually received in slide carriages which swing in a direction generally transverse to the plane of the warp threads and pay out their threads through suitable slots in the carriages. The latter may range in width from 0.8 to 2.0 mm., depending upon the number of slide carriages accommodated within the breadth of the machine, and, consequently, determine the fineness of the finished fabrics conventionally designated as 6-, 8-, 10- or 12-point mesh.

It is of considerable importance in the production of fabrics to reduce the frictional forces acting upon the threads wherever the latter engage portions of the machine and to reduce the frictional resistance of moving parts of the machine in order to minimize thread breakage and to achieve a maximum rate of production. Accordingly, it has heretofore been the practice to lubricate the moving machine elements (eg the bobbins) and the threads with finely divided graphite powders acting as anti-friction agents. The finely divided graphite, however, was difficult to remove from the finished product even by prolonged and repeated washings, and was almost impossible to extract from synthetic-fiber fabrics made in whole or in part from polyamide, polyester, polyacrylonitrile or polyurethane fibers as Well as from cellular fibers such as cotton, particularly in the presence of even the slightest contamination of the fabric by oily substances such as might result from contact with the hands of the operator.

It is the primary object of my invention, therefore, to provide a method of producing fabrics and particularly reticulate fabrics, such as the ones mentioned above, adapted to obviate the drawbacks of graphic lubrication of the machine elements and threads while retaining the advantages of such lubrication.

A more particular object of the invention is to provide a lubricant for the moving machine parts and the threads of textile production which will be as effective as graphite in reducing frictional forces at the wear points of the machinery and yet be readily removable from the fabric produced.

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In accordance with my invention, the wear points of -fabric-producing machines and the intertex'ture threads thereof are lubricated with a highly comminuted, substantially colorless powder readily washable from the finished fabric. I have found that a powder containing pulverulent boron compounds, in a preparation of at least 20% by weight, is approximately as effective as graphite in textile-machine applications.

The lubricant, which is only loosely adherent to the finished product after being distributed to the moving parts of the machine (e. g. the slide carriages, bobbins and carriage rails), preferably comprises boric acid and/ or boron nitride. The boron compounds may be admixed with up to by weight, but preferably less than 60% by weight, of substantially colorless lubricating fillers of flat molecular structure such as talc, mica, naphthalene, anthracene, phenanthrene, naphthylamine and cellulose in a finely divided state.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of my invention will become more readily apparent from the following descriptilon, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which the sole figure is a somewhat schematic transverse cross-sectional view of a machine for producing bobbinet.

In the drawing, the warp beam 10 pays out warp threads 11 and =12 which are interlaced with the weft threads 13 and 14, emanating respectively from the bobbins 15 and 16, prior to being wound upon the fabrictake-up beam 17. The fabric 18 is produced from the threads 11 to 14 by the needles 19, 20'. Bobbins 15 and 16 are freely rotatable in their carriages 21 and 22, respectively, which are slidably received between the rails 23, .23. The carriages 21 and 22 are provided with respective slots .24 and 25 through which the bobbin threads 13 and 14 are drawn, and with respective toothed portions 26 and 27 which are engageable by the carriagedisplacement sprockets 28. Bobbin 16 and its carriage 22 may be shifted from the solid-line position shown to its dot-dash line position through the web of warp threads 11 and 12, while the carriage 21, carrying the bobbin 15, is similarly displaceable along rails 23 and 23. A hopper 30, adapted to dispense a dry lubricant containing a pulverulent boron compound constituting at least 2.0% by weight of the lubricant, is provided with ducts 31, schematically shown in dot-dash lines, which deposit the lubricant in the carriages 21 and 22 about the bobbins 15 and 16 and along the rails 23, 23', thereby lubricating the weft threads 13 and 14- emerging from slots 24 and 25 as well as the carriages in their shuttle motion. The lubricant may contain up to 80% of lubricating extenders such as betanaphthylamine, talcum powder or the like.

The lubricant applied from the hopper 30 may be washed readily from the fabric 18, wound upon the beam 17, by conventional processing equipment. It will be noted that the lubricant may also be applied to other working parts of the machine and to other threads, including the warp threads "11 and 12, in order to smooth their passage through the machine.

The invention as described is believed to admit of many modifications, particularly in the composition of the lubricant, deemed to be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A method of lubricating thread and machinery sur- 3 faces in the manufacture of reticulate fabrics, comprising the step of dispensing a dry ipulverulent lubricant upon the surfaces to be lubricated, said lubricant consisting of at least 20% by weight of boric acid.

2. A method of lubricating thread and machinery surfaces in the manufacture of reticulate fabrics, comprising the step of dispensing a dry pulverulent lubricant upon the surfaces to be lubricated, said lubricant being a mixture of boric acid with a substantially colorless cornminuted filler of flat molecular structure, the boric acid constituting at least 20% by Weight of said mixture.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Eckerbom May 20, 1930 Cooper May 2, 1939 Cook June 3, 1947 Kennelly Dec. 2, 1947 Cook Oct. 21, 1952 Aickin et al Dec. 29, 1953 Henricks Jan. 13, 1959 McCallion et al Oct. 25, 1960 Chaflin Feb. 14, 1961 Schachner July 25, 1961 

2. A METHOD OF LUBRICATING THREAD AND MACHINERY SURFACES IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RETICULATE FABRICS, COMPRISING THE STEPS OF DISPENSING A DRY PULVERULENT LUBRICANT UPON THE SURFACES TO BE LUBRICATED, SAID LUBRICANT BEING A MIXTURE OF BORIC ACID WITH A SUBSTANTIALLY COLORLESS COMMINUTED FILLER OF FLAT MOLECULAR STRUCTURE, THE BORIC ACID CONSTITUTING AT LEAST 20% BY WEIGHT OF SAID MIXTURE. 